BTW, I can already hear some of you asking If it's in Blender, why post that here in the Poser Forum. Well, because it's a Cycles shader for hair is why, which means that eventually it could find it's way into Poser's Superfly. Just letting you know about the development.

If you tried to view any videos on YouTube that were uploaded by the Blender Foundation, you may have been stymied from viewing the video due to You Tube blocking access to the videos.

Why? Well, according to the Blender Foundation, uh, they're not quite sure.

Last night the Youtube Support team contacted Francesco Siddi by phone. As we understand it now it’s a mix of coincidences, bad UIs, wrong error messages, ignorant support desks and our non-standard decision to not monetize a popular Youtube channel.

The coincidence is that Youtube is rolling out their subscription system in Europe (and Netherlands). This subscription system will allow users to stream music and enjoy Youtube ad-free. They updated terms and conditions for it and need to get monetized channel owners to approve that. Coincidentally our channel was set to allow monetization.

Anyway, as of today, YouTube has unblocked all Blender Foundation videos and they are once again available for viewing.

Och, it is always the same thing with these money hungry "inventions".

First you launch YouTube. The thing becomes popular and advertising companies want a piece of the cake.
Then the site becomes more and more popular but gets flooded with adds till the number of viewers start dropping due to the adds saturation..
Then viewers have to pay to NOT see the adds.
Then the advertising companies complain and the circle goes on and on.

@eclark1849 I use an ad blocker on my PC and NEVER see ads on YouTube. The videos play without pauses or interruptions. Blender Foundation should just go ahead and monetize their channel and then donate the revenue. People who are smart use ad blocker anyway.

@eclark1849 I use an ad blocker on my PC and NEVER see ads on YouTube. The videos play without pauses or interruptions. Blender Foundation should just go ahead and monetize their channel and then donate the revenue. People who are smart use ad blocker anyway.

Me, too.

BTW am I the only one slightly puzzled by the sentence "Europe (and Netherlands)"?

It is with deep sadness that we must inform you that Andrew, the owner of CGbytes Inc., has passed. Andrew was a dear friend and colleague to the entire CGbytes family and he will be sorely missed. It was through Andrew’s vision and leadership that the CGbytes family of sites have grown to the amazing offering we all enjoy today and we are grateful to him for sharing so generously of his time and talents.

The CGbytes team would like to ensure all customers and artists that Andrew’s vision will continue into the future. Over the past year, Andrew had already stepped away from day-to-day duties of the site and the same amazing team he put in place will continue to operate all of the CGbytes Inc. sites.

We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all of our customers, artists, and friends as we grieve together for our lost loved one.

Andrew had an ambitious road map for the future, and we will continue to bring new content, technology, and innovation to this marketplace as he would have wanted.

@eclark1849 I use an ad blocker on my PC and NEVER see ads on YouTube. The videos play without pauses or interruptions. Blender Foundation should just go ahead and monetize their channel and then donate the revenue. People who are smart use ad blocker anyway.

Me, too.

BTW am I the only one slightly puzzled by the sentence "Europe (and Netherlands)"?

Last time I looked, The Netherlands were firmly placed IN Europe ...

Netherlands was probably added separately because the Blender contact was dutch.

India plans to use 3D paintings as virtual speed-breakers to make its roads safer

BY SONAM JOSHI
APR 26, 2016
The Indian government may use 3D paintings as virtual speed-breakers on major highways and roads, in a bid to check speeding and rash driving, and ultimately make its deadly roads a little safer.

In a copyright dispute between OTOY and FStorm, the Russian Court have ruled in favour of FStorm, the GPU renderer developed by Andrey Kozlov, a former employee at OTOY who had formerly worked on Octane. Andrey Kozlov, was accused by OTOY of using IP from Octane to develop his software. The accusation was upheld by Justice Muir in the High Court of New Zealand who awarded Otoy $50,000 in exemplary damages and granted permanent injunctions preventing the sale, download or supply of infringing versions of FStormRender
Following this, the lawsuit continued in the Russian courts, and according to documents shared on the FStorm website, have ruled in favour of FStorm in a recent appeal.

CGPress has received the following statement from Lavely & Singer, P.C. the law firm acting as litigation counsel to OTOY in the case of OTOY v. Kozlov:OTOY is proceeding with all of its appellate rights, as the ruling from the Russian court last month is still subject to review by the Court of Cassation. In the meantime, the only final judgment in this matter is the one issued by the New Zealand High Court in 2017 whereby the Court entered a permanent injunction against Mr. Kozlov and ordered him to pay exemplary damages for infringing upon OTOY’s copyrights in and to Octane Render. Accordingly, OTOY is seeking reversal of the Moscow City Court’s ruling based on the overwhelming evidence of infringement, including the testimony of an independent expert witness who compared the two software programs and found substantial evidence proving that FStorm was unlawfully copied from Octane Render.